Motion Computing J3400 Goes for a Test Flight

A couple of Aussie tableteers took a Motion Computing J3400 for a test flight in a small airplane to see how it’d perform in the cockpit. The pilot is looking to replace his HP TC1100 and it sounds like he found a good alternative in the J3400.

The outdoor display seems like a must-have for a pilot since shade can be hard to come by while you’re flying.

I always fly on big jetliners and don’t know any pilots personally. I’m sure there are pilots using Tablet PCs in the sky- what models have you seen or used in the cockpit?

3 Comments

I’m a VFR private pilot and I don’t use my Tablet PC in the cockpit for a couple of reasons.

For one, mine is a convertible and as such is just too big and bulky for a very small Cessna cockpit. If I had a slate (or the next time I have a slate) I may try it.

Also, as a VFR pilot, the only documents I usually need are my sectional map, the Airport Facility Directory (AFD), and airport diagrams. The sectional and AFD get rarely used because most of the planes I fly have a GPS with a large moving map. I will usually print out the airport diagrams for the fields to which I intend to fly (and occasionally for alternates as well), but have considered trying my Kindle with PDF copies of the diagrams instead.

The Kindle screen is very readable in bright sunlight and the small size would make it easy to carry. And the airport diagrams are usually made for a small page (suitable for a standard knee-board) that may work well on the Kindle’s relatively smaller screen.

My Tablet PC (an HP tx2) is a great tool for pre-flight planning, but on the actual flights it rides in back.

Nice application Adam! I’ve had a few customers doing aerial powerline work down here in Australia. We’ve also had aerial firefighting and weed mapping that I can think of. Those applications are mostly rotary wing.

I’ve also had heaps of GA pilots using the old Motion LS800 in small planes. It was perfect because if its size. Although the way Professor Bob used the TC1100 Tablet in this video made me rethink the size issue for pilots. He uses it like a kneeboard, and that would actually work pretty well with a thin 12″ tablet like the J3400.

I’ve even had a pilot from one of the big airlines here in Australia using a Tablet.